I hate to break it to you but, if you see any of these signs in your business you are doing it WRONG. You have to watch out for the SALES ILLUSION that will make you think you see success, but really you are setting yourself up for failure.

#1 The Customer Closes You. – You give high fives and jump up and down like a 5th-grade hopscotch champion then you are doing it wrong. The customer shouldn’t be closing you. You failed at your job. You just marketed that customer until they were up against a wall. If the customer wanted the product so badly that they had to ask you for it, you waited too long. You should have saved them some time and made the decision easier for them. You should have guided them through the process and you should have given a professional recommendation followed by a call to action. It’s simple. “Hey, I see you really like the color red and are ready to buy now. Let’s head inside and get the paperwork ready. It will take about 30 minutes, OK?” That’s all you need. It’s really, really basic. Letting the customer wait until they have to ask you for the product wastes their time, you made the decision process too hard and they are less likely to be happy because they will second guess themselves. If you want to be a marketer, cool. Go be a marketer and advertise people into buying. It works, it just isn’t selling.

#2 The Customer Asks a TON of Questions! – Some people think these are cool because it’s a buying sign. WRONG. It’s true that questions can be a buying sign, but you should be creating the framework for the questions and controlling the exchange. If you simply answer the question and then shut up and wait like a good little FAQ robot then you aren’t selling. You are Customer Service. You should be probing and asking your own questions to see what the customer wants to know about. If they have a question and it’s a surprise to you, well you dropped the ball somewhere. You can allow for questions, it’s a good way to isolate possible objections and goals. “What types of questions to you have before we can move forward?” is a pretty basic example. Basic is better than losing control and just waiting for the next question to be asked. If the customer is directing the flow of information you aren’t going to get the deal anyway. You are going to get a thank-you and some verbal gratuity because you’ve been very helpful. Just not helpful enough to get paid for it.

#3 The Customer says they want more info and then goes GHOST on you. – You know it happens. It happens to everyone, but how often does it happen to you? If it’s happening once a day or three times a week, it’s too much. If your customers are going MIA it’s because they don’t like you. Why don’t they like you? I don’t know. May you are the Grinch of Sales. Maybe you talk too much, your shoes are too tight and you scare little children. It could be that you are a fast talker and they are slow listeners. Maybe you don’t talk fast enough, or are too loud. Maybe you were talking about the long term benefits when all they wanted was a fast transaction and something reasonably good. There are a ton of reasons why this customer didn’t like you, but most of them involve you not connecting, not listening and not mirroring your client. You were nice enough to get the brush off. Incidentally, if this happens in your love life it is for the exact same reasons. You are not a closer.

Want to learn how to be a closer? Go here  The Dojo and/or  buy my book here – The Art of SalesFu